Dead Definition
dead
adverb
- quickly and without warning; "he stopped suddenly"
- completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers; "an absolutely magnificent painting"; "a perfectly idiotic idea"; "you're perfectly right"; "utterly miserable"; "you can be dead sure of my innocence"; "was dead tired"; "dead right"
adjective
- no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life; "the nerve is dead"; "a dead pallor"; "he was marked as a dead man by the assassin"
- not showing characteristics of life especially the capacity to sustain life; no longer exerting force or having energy or heat; "Mars is a dead planet"; "dead soil"; "dead coals"; "the fire is dead"
- very tired; "was all in at the end of the day"; "so beat I could flop down and go to sleep anywhere"; "bushed after all that exercise"; "I'm dead after that long trip"
- unerringly accurate; "a dead shot"; "took dead aim"
- physically inactive; "Crater Lake is in the crater of a dead volcano of the Cascade Range"
- (followed by `to') not showing human feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive; "passersby were dead to our plea for help"; "numb to the cries for mercy"
- devoid of physical sensation; numb; "his gums were dead from the novocain"; "she felt no discomfort as the dentist drilled her deadened tooth"; "a public desensitized by continuous television coverage of atrocities"
- lacking acoustic resonance; "dead sounds characteristic of some compact discs"; "the dead wall surfaces of a recording studio"
- not yielding a return; "dead capital"; "idle funds"
- not circulating or flowing; "dead air"; "dead water"; "stagnant water"
- not surviving in active use; "Latin is a dead language"
- lacking resilience or bounce; "a dead tennis ball"
- out of use or operation because of a fault or breakdown; "a dead telephone line"; "the motor is dead"
- no longer having force or relevance; "a dead issue"
- complete; "came to a dead stop"; "utter seriousness"
- drained of electric charge; discharged; "a dead battery"; "left the lights on and came back to find the battery drained"
- devoid of activity; "this is a dead town; nothing ever happens here"
noun
- people who are no longer living; "they buried the dead"
- a time when coldness (or some other quality associated with death) is intense; "the dead of winter"
"Dead" in song lyrics
See how dead is used in real songs:
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"Others wish he failed and rather see him dead"
2 Live Crew — You Got Larceny -
"Watch out, fool, get shot dead"
2 Live Crew — Hangin' Out -
"Got myself to the point where I wanted fools dead"
2nd II None — Y?
Words that rhyme with dead
Usage tips for "dead"
Understanding the precise definition of a word helps you use it with confidence. When using "dead" in your writing, consider whether you need the word itself or one of its synonyms — subtle differences in meaning can change the tone of a sentence. If you're writing poetry or song lyrics, check the rhymes for dead to find words that pair well.